Improved olotees-wbingee



@einen gratas stgat @fitta CHARLES H. AMIDON, OF GREENFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGN OR TO BAILEY WASHING AND WRINGING MACHINE COMPANY, OF WOONSOCKET, RHODE ISLAND.

Letters Patent No. 64,932, dated allay 21, 1867.

IMPROVED CLOTHES-Welness.

T0 ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, CHARLES H. AMIDON, of Greenfield, in the county of l'ranklin, and State ofMassachusetts, have invented new and useful improvements in Machines for Wringing Clothes; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription thereof, reference being had to theannexed drawings, making part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a front elevation; and

Figure 2 an end view of my machine.

The nature of my invention consists in so arranging a wringing machine having geared rollers composed of or covered with rubber orsimilar elastic material or compound impervious to water, as that the roller, which yields or gives to the varying bulk of articles that pass between it and the roller with fixed bearings, may move perpendicular-ly without strain upon the'gearing which connects the rollers, and without causing the least alteration in the relative' positions of the gearing-wheels with their immediate neighbors, while at the same time,l from the peculiar construction of a self-adjusting spring, the pressure of the roller upon the clothes is kept so nearly uniform during all degrees of elevation or depression of the roller that it may be considered practically constant.

In the drawings, A A are the supports or standards ofthe rollers B B", firmly braced together and arranged l to be attached to a tub or other vessel to catch the water as it is pressed from the clothes. The shaft a of the fixed roller B is in permanent bearings in the supports A, and one end projects beyond the support, and has a Afixed cog-wheel, C, upon it. The shaft 6 of the movable rollerlB has its bearings in movable journal-boxes c c, fitted to slide freely up and down in slots or grooves in the supports A. It also projects at one end beyond the journal-box, and has a xed cog-wheel, D, upon it, immediately over but` not meshing with the cog-wheel C. The wheels C and D are less in diameter than the rollers, so that they may not come in contact when the .rollers are together. Two othercog-Wheels, E and F, of the same size and pitch with C and D, gear with each` other, and are kept in a constant relation with each other by links or straps of metal, d, connecting their axles, on which they may turn freely. The wheel F gears also with the wheel C, and the wheelE with D, and the wheels thus paired, D with E and C with F, are kept in their relations with each other as pairs by links or straps of metal, e, connecting theaxles of C and F, and similar. straps,f, connecting the axles of D and E. It will be seen that the straps or links d ef thus form a chain having its points of flexion at the axes of the cogwheels, and which may be straightened, if necessary, so as Ato bring all'the centres of the wheels in a perpendicular line, while their connection as gears will be undisturbed, and motion given to one will be communicated 'to the rest.l If the rollers B B beforced apart there will be vno tendency in the journal-box c of the movableyroller tovhug or jam against one side of the slot or groove in which it slides, but it. will move in a perfectly;l perpendicular direction, separating to a greater distance the wheels C and D, while the straps e f, swinging around the centres of C and D, act as toggle-joint levers, and as if they were jointed to the centre instead of the ends of the strap d at the axles of E and F, and draw these in between the Wheels C and D, towards aline passing through their centres, without getting out of gear, and without ceasing to communicate motion from the shaft a to the shaft b, the power expended in thus moving the'wheels and preservingv their contact beingonly so much as is necessary to overcome the friction of the wheels in their bearings, and upon each other. The arrows indicate the direction of motion in the wheels and rollers, which may be given by applying any power to the shaft a. G G are two spring-pockets firmly attached to the upper parts of the supports A, and secured together by a brace, g. In these pockets are the springs, which may be of rubber or other suitable material, and of any desired form. In the drawing, one of the boxes is shown as'partially broken away to show the spring within it. These springs each receive the end-thrust of a lever, H, extending from the springs 'obliquely downto a line passing vertically through the centre of the distance between their ends,- where they meet, and may be jointed together, or be fitted to each other by a cylinderV and concave without -a joint pin, and where they press on the centre of the top of stout beam I, extending across from one journal-box c to the' other, on which its ends rest and are brought to the proper degree of pressure or resistance to the'springs and levers H H by keys yor wedges, or an equivalert device. As the rollers are forced apart the beam I is raised, and the joined ends of the levers H being also raised, the upper and outer ends of the levers are forced against the springs m the vpockets G. As thelevers H H approach a horizontal position they would oifer less and less resistance to the force separating the rollers, but that the resistance of the springs Vin the pockets G is increased as they are compressed, andthe result is a uniform rate of resistance to the said force through all the vertical space in which it may be exerted onrthe rollers. The levers are kept' from arriving at a dead-point, where'all the pressure of the springs would beexerted against them only, by so arranging the beam I that it may be stopped in its rise before the levers H have reached a horizontal position.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim therein as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. The cog-wheels C D E F, connected together at their axles by the straps or links d ef, so as to form a iexible train of gearing between, and in combination with, therollers B B ofa clothes-wringing machine, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The levers H H, arranged substantially as set forth, to be in opposition to a resisting force exerted by a spring o1' springs, or their equivalent.

CHARLES H. AMIDON.

Witnesses:

AUSTIN DE WOLF, LEVI J. GUNN. 

